`

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Ibrahim Ali lectures PAS on Islam: I pity them

The upcoming PAS election will be the party’s last chance to return to the Islamic roots it sacrificed for political gain, Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali has said.

He said while the PAS of old used to champion Islam, regardless of whether it did well in general elections, the party was now willing to do anything to win whatever the consequences.

Ibrahim said such a strategy would be acceptable if PAS was the dominant party in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) but pointed out that, unlike Umno in Barisan Nasional (BN), PAS was not the senior partner in the opposition pact.

He said that when PAS raised issues relating to Islam, DAP would chastise them openly but when the latter touched on Muslim sensitivities, PAS maintained a “deafening silence”.

“The PAS election this time around will determine if... PAS remains an Islamist party in name only and Islam becomes a purely political currency to ensure PAS candidates win,” he said in a statement today.

Ibrahim predicted that vice president Datuk Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man would win the deputy presidency as fellow candidate Mohamad Sabu and incumbent Nasrudin Hassan did not fit into PAS’s plan to secure seats at any cost.

Ibrahim said this was because Nasrudin was seen as overly supportive of Umno-PAS unity efforts while Mohamad, better known as Mat Sabu, appeared unwilling to “wage jihad” for opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

Similarly, the Pasir Mas MP claimed that Nik Amar’s candidacy was an attempt to stop Husam Musa, a “lone ranger” from the professional Erdogan faction, from becoming vice president.

“Only DAP and Anwar will benefit... Hardcore PAS supporters who sincerely wish to fight for Islam do not know this. I pity them,” Ibrahim added.

Six candidates will contest the three PAS vice presidential spots in the Islamist party’s upcoming elections.

This is the first time that three candidates from Kelantan will be vying for the posts. The polls will be held in June.